


Tiger Lilies (I dare you to love me)

by TelekineticIssue



Series: LoK Tumblr Requests [8]
Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: F/F, First Date, First Kiss, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-29
Updated: 2020-10-29
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:07:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,282
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27259177
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TelekineticIssue/pseuds/TelekineticIssue
Summary: "You dared me to love you.""And?""I do."
Relationships: Lin Beifong/Kya II
Series: LoK Tumblr Requests [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1972630
Comments: 5
Kudos: 121





	Tiger Lilies (I dare you to love me)

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by Tumblr user @sleazyjanet's piece [here](https://sleazyjanet.tumblr.com/post/633036931719135232/tiger-lily-means-i-dare-you-to-love-me). Please support their work!  
> This work is not a request, but as it's a crosspost, I've added it to the collection.

The first thing Kya says is, “Your hair!” and Lin fidgets, a touch embarrassed. The second thing Kya says is, “You look lovely.”

“You’re radiant,” Lin replies, taking in the sight of Kya in a dress she isn’t sure if she’s seen before; not quite traditional Water Tribe style, it’s something that speaks of Republic City’s culture as well. She nearly feels underdressed in comparison, but the way Kya’s eyes sweep her over leaves a touch of satisfaction in her chest.

“Thank you.” Kya absentmindedly twirls a lock of hair around her finger. “You too! Well, I already said that.”

A short laugh, a smile, and Kya finds herself melting before they’ve even properly left on this thing (outing, dinner, date, they never gave it a name) they’ve been looking forward to for a week. Lin holds out an arm for Kya to take, and together they meander down the pathways and courtyards of Air Temple Island to the ferry dock. The sun has only started its descent as it launches, and they stand at the railing to watch the way the sky begins its shift to gold as the sun dips toward the horizon. This, the sky changing over the water, is one of Lin’s favorite sights, and Kya claims the same, though she finds herself looking more out of the corner of her eye to watch Lin instead of the sky. She rarely sees her this relaxed, this open, and the absence of her physical armor feels like an invitation to vulnerability for perhaps the first time since they were both young and foolish and in what might have been love had they not been too shy to address it.

“Hm?” Lin turns to Kya, brushing her hand over the railing to sit next to hers, the hint of contact warm in the light chill of an early autumn evening. Kya places her hand over Lin’s without thinking too hard about it, and is gratified by a small gasp she thinks she might have imagined.

“Did you ask me something? I was absolutely not paying attention,” Kya admits. Lin tries to keep her lips from screwing up in a smile, and fails.

“I asked if there was something on my face. You kept looking over.”

“Nothing that doesn’t make you beautiful.” Kya notices the shift in Lin’s stance, an almost imperceptible turn of her head as if she’s thinking about trying to hide her scars, but their position next to each other makes it impossible. Something in her heart twists, that Lin feels as if she still can’t trust Kya to see past those lines, when Kya knows they don’t make a shred of difference.

“Careful, you’re going to compliment me to death,” Lin mutters.

“Only if you don’t learn to take them.”

“Says you.”

They disembark and Lin’s personal Satomobile is waiting parked for them; she opens the passenger door for Kya and allows her to step inside before moving around to the driver’s seat.

“Kwong’s, I assume?” Kya says. Lin looks offended.

“Not tonight. I thought we decided on a Fire Nation restaurant?”

“That we did.”

Lin takes a turn down a street Kya isn’t fully familiar with, and they end up at an upscale restaurant that she’s never seen before.

Seated at an out of the way booth, Kya glances the menu over and finds something that she recalls having eaten and enjoyed on visits to Uncle Zuko and Izumi. When the waiter comes by again, Lin has to laugh as they both order the same thing and a glass of wine each.

“Chief must be off the clock,” Kya teases.

“Hush, you. Just the one.” Lin decides to be forward, her fingers brushing Kya’s on the table. They intertwine loosely, and Kya bites her lip to hold back some sweet nonsense that might put Lin off whatever this is.

It’s when they’re back at the dock that Lin realizes she isn’t quite ready for the night to end.

“Want to walk for a bit?”

“That would be nice.”

Hand in hand, they walk up the street, just another couple in the evening as the street lamps begin to flicker on. A small street band begins to play and they stop to listen; Kya hides her surprise when Lin drags her into a short dance, but when it ends, they’re both held close in the other’s arms, flushed, questioning. Kya breaks away first, tossing several yuan into the open tip box, and they move on.

“Hold on,” Lin says, extricating her hand from Kya’s and checking both ways before darting across the street. Kya holds back a joke about arresting the Chief for jaywalking as she sees Lin approach a still-open flower stand across the street.

“Roses?” the woman at the stand seems almost bored.

“No, no. Tiger lilies,” Lin says. The woman raises an eyebrow, but puts together the bouquet without any further question. Lin hides them behind her back on the dash back across the street.

“Oh, for me? How charming.” Kya grins, and Lin somehow finds herself more flustered than before.

“Anything for you,” she says roughly, holding the flowers at arm’s length. Kya brings a hand to her mouth, stunned, taking in the bright orange petals Lin had offered. She places her other hand around Lin’s.

“Darling, what are these?”

The name makes Lin turn positively scarlet. “Lilies. Obviously.” She slips her hand away and they turn their walk back to the docks.

“What do they mean?” Kya asks when they’re standing once again on Air Temple Island, Lin having insisted on accompanying her back all the way up to the door of the temple. Kya knows Lin knows she knows what they mean, and getting her to say it out loud would be a certain victory for her. 

“I dare you,” she says softly, closing the distance between them, ghosting her lips over Kya’s cheek in an almost-kiss that makes both their hearts ache, “I dare you to love me.”

“I-” Kya starts, but Lin’s backing away, saying something about not wanting to miss the ferry, and she’s gone before Kya can unscramble her thoughts enough to form a coherent response.

The next time she sees Lin it’s because she’s been called down to the station to help with healing a group of injured officers. Lin refuses treatment until her men are back on their feet, and Kya has to follow her into her office and force her into a chair despite her insistence that she’s fine. Her fingers find the hidden catches on Lin’s armor with practiced ease and the metal clatters off, covering the exasperated sound Lin makes. She hisses when Kya’s hands find the battered and bruised parts of her, healing water following them and soothing the aches and pains until the tightness in Lin’s expression softens and she relaxes.

“I thought about what you said,” Kya says evenly, focusing her attention on the scrapes on Lin’s hands in her own, healing them with a gentle touch.

“What?”

“You dared me to love you.” Kya sends the water back into the bowl on the table, and threads her fingers through Lin’s. 

Lin’s breathing is shallow, worried. “And?”

“I do.”

Kya finds Lin in her lap in the next second, lips pressed to her own, arms wrapped around her shoulders while her own encircle Lin’s waist. They break apart, thankful they’re hidden from the rest of the station. Lin lets out a shaky laugh, allowing Kya to hold her tighter.

“What’s next?” she asks, breathless.

“We keep daring each other,” Kya says, “Over and over until there’s nothing left but love.”

“Dare you to kiss me again.”

And she does.


End file.
